Unrefined
by OwlAway
Summary: Katara and Mai muse over Zuko's first court as Firelord and Katara makes a decision. Part 2 of the 'Something Important' series.


_Part 2 of the 'Something Important' series._

* * *

The Fire Nation was a glimmering jewel. Dark, volcanic islands fertilising rich, bright flowers in the middle of glittering, crystal blue seas. Katara didn't think she'd seen anything so beautiful in all her life.

The people of the Fire Nation nobility only served to enhance the beauty of their homeland, with elegant silks and dazzling hair ornaments. They left Katara feeling a little like she'd stumbled into a viper's den. She stood a little apart from the crowds with her friends as Zuko was reintroduced to royal life, circulating with an advisor at hand. He looked beautiful, as though he'd never left this world. His crown caught the light of the sconces around the court and he inclined his head so slightly to each noble he spoke with, the very picture of grace and elegance.

"It's not going well. He's not convincing enough."

Katara turned at the older girl's quiet condemnation of Zuko's courtly behaviour. Mai was breathtakingly beautiful. She was wearing ornamental robes, her hair was piled high in a glossy updo and her eyes were sharp as ever. "What do you mean?" Katara asked. "He looks perfect."

No one looked anything but respectful. "He _looks_ the part but he's rough around the edges," Mai said, sounding unimpressed. "Three years on the run have left him out of practice. He's… unrefined."

Katara's teeth ground together and she took a sip of wine to soothe herself. "Unrefined?"

Mai nodded, either not noticing or not caring about the bite in Katara's voice. "Fire Nation high society is based on a rigid set of rules and formalities. Zuko was banished too early in his education and... to those who matter, he's lacking the grace befitting a true Firelord."

If it had been anyone else speaking like this, Katara would have been offended on Zuko's behalf but Mai looked so bored and spoke with such a flat, matter-of-fact tone that she found herself considering the older girl's observations carefully.

She couldn't see anything _unrefined_ in the way Zuko circulated the room but what she could see was the slight discomfort, the nervous way his eyes would flick to his advisor even as he lifted his chin and asserted his opinion in conversations with the greying noblemen around him.

He wasn't as at ease as she had thought. "What do we do?" Katara asked and Mai sighed.

"We don't _do _anything," She said, sounding irritated. "He needs to take etiquette lessons again and spend more time at court. It comes with practice, exposure and time," She glanced to Katara sharply. "You can't just fix things for him every time he struggles- and this is _not _something you have any ability to help with. Does the Southern Water Tribe have a court?"

That stung. Katara scowled at her, but Mai simply turned back to Zuko, watching him as intently as she ever had. Katara felt a familiar stab of sympathy for Mai, who was as unwavering and constant in everything as any earthbender she'd met.

And she was always watching Zuko.

"We're not helping, are we?" Katara said softly. "We're the wrong sort of allies to have at court."

Mai gave a slight nod of the head. "He needs you," She said slowly. "But they don't want you here."

And that, Katara thought a little bitterly, was the crux of the matter,

.

"Zuko, how can you stand it?" Sokka groaned, lounging across an array of plush red pillows in Zuko's antechamber. "So much luxury!" He picked grapes from the fruit platter beside him and popped a handful into his mouth. Momo scurried onto his belly and promptly reached into his mouth to steal one.

Aang burst into laughter with Toph as Sokka looked very much like he was about to vomit. Suki passed him a sake and he drank greedily, sinking back into the cushions with a satisfied grin. Zuko eyed him with a slight frown.

"Is it too much?" He looked around the antechamber with a critical eye. "I tried to tone it down a bit," He'd asked the house staff to simplify the decor in his rooms; three years on the road had left him with a creeping sense of unease when life went too smoothly. The plush interiors and helpful servants were appreciated at first, but as the days had gone on he'd found himself feeling unsettled.

Here, in his private rooms with his friends, he could finally breathe.

Aang bounded over to him with a wide grin. "Zuko, you're the _Fire Lord_ and you deserve good things," The young Airbender slung an arm over Zuko's shoulder with a smarmy smirk. "I let you have my forever girl, you know? I wouldn't have let her go to just anyone."

Zuko wrinkled his nose and a quick water whip to the back of Aang's head sent the boy lurching forward. "You're drunk. Who gave you so much wine?" He scolded as Aang looked around to Katara in protest.

"Hey!"

"You don't _let_ me do anything, Avatar Aang," Katara smirked as she entered the antechamber with Mai at her side. "Or did you forget who the _Master _is here?" At her side, Mai rolled her eyes at the childish squabble.

"Hey! I'm a Master!" Aang protested valiantly. "I'm the Avatar!"

"Yeah, yeah," Toph waved a hand dismissively. "Tell it to someone who cares."

Katara grinned and pulled Aang into a quick hug. "Go to bed, Aang. It's late."

But instead, Aang slumped into a different pile of pillows and began chattering away to Momo cheerily. Katara shook her head in bemusement. She was quite possibly the most beautiful thing in the world and Zuko wondered faintly if he might be a little drunk too.

She turned those light blue eyes on him and he gave an awkward little wave in response. Spirits, take him now. Thankfully, she smiled back at him in response, which went a small way towards reassuring him he wasn't a _completely _awkward fool. She came to sit beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "There are still a few petitioners hoping to see you now that everyone else has left," She informed him with a roll of her eyes.

He couldn't really help the grimace. "I don't have to go out there again, do I?"

"No," Mai confirmed with a wry smile. "You're done for the evening."

"Good," He breathed, letting his head fall back. He'd removed the crown and heavy outer robes as soon as he'd made it to his private rooms when he'd dismissed court and really did not fancy putting it all back on in order to please some petty nobles.

He'd had some really uncomfortable conversations over the course of the evening. Older men and women who had gotten used to life under his father's rule suddenly coming out of the woodwork to try and manipulate the young new Firelord. Snide whispers about his manners, his etiquette, his parentage, his friends…

His hand found Katara's and squeezed.

He'd done his best to remain courteous, but he'd forgotten how ingrained the sense of superiority was for Fire Nation nobles; they didn't see his coronation as anything more significant than a fresh slate to assert their own authority and get close to the new leader. His advisor had warned him it would be a rough night, the first court with his friends in attendance, he'd been right.

He was grateful for their presence- they'd stayed longer than he expected after his coronation and it softened the shock of being thrust back into courtly life once again. He was doubly grateful for Katara's presence at his side even after he'd said she could leave when she wanted to... So far she'd stayed. Despite the particularly pointed whispers about her and her 'closeness' with the Firelord, he was glad she was still here.

He pressed a quiet kiss to the top of her head as the others chatted amicably around them, trying to hold on to this moment of peace.

Of all people, it was Katara who broke it. She sat upright and turned to him with a piercing look. "Let's go for a walk."

He blinked in surprise, pretty sure his mouth was slightly agape. "Uh, okay."

She stood abruptly, pulling him up by their clasped hands and flowing through their friends with an odd sense of urgency. Zuko found himself tripping over Toph's outstretched foot in his effort to keep pace which, judging by her smirk, was probably a deliberate attempt at sabotage on her part. His inelegance would probably always be a source of entertainment for the tiny earthbender.

So he settled for _inelegantly _scowling at her as Katara pulled him through the doors that led outside to the gardens. It was definitely past midnight now. Stars made roads through the deep inky blue of the night sky and the moon was high and nearly full above them, casting a pale, silvery light over the royal gardens. Being outside seemed to calm her again.

Katara turned her face up to the moon with her eyes closed, just for a second, but he watched her with fascination. Did she know she was doing it? Giving the moon a silent greeting? She opened her eyes and smiled back at him. "What?" She asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

He shook his head in wonder, leaned down and kissed her deeply, the way he'd wanted to at court. She pressed into him in response, winding her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.

Out here, just the two of them, it was easy. "Come on," She whispered. "I didn't bring you out here just to make out."

"You didn't?" He asked with a smile and she rolled her eyes, blushing slightly.

"No…" She said, seeming to sober slightly. "Aang and the others are talking about going to the Southern Water Tribe in the next few days."

Oh.

"Okay," He said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "That sounds fun. You've not seen your grandmother in nearly a year. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."

"Yeah, but I was just thinking…" Katara looked out over the silvery grass of the moonlit garden, he pale eyes reflecting moonlight back at him. "I don't think we should go public yet."

Zuko's brow furrowed and he watched as she swallowed hard. He waited, patiently, for her to elaborate even as his heart swelled in his throat. The giddy elation he'd felt just seconds earlier, when she'd been in his arms, vanished completely. She seemed to be struggling to get the words out, and he realised with a horrible churn of his stomach what she meant; them. She wanted to keep _them_ secret.

She was ashamed. It made sense, he supposed. Why would she want the world to know she was with him?

He looked away as Katara turned to look at him, trying to keep the creeping emotions off his face. "Right."

He couldn't help the slightly curt tone of his voice. He was never very good at hiding his emotions and Katara was empathetic to a fault. "Zuko, it's not that I don't _want _to-"

"It's fine," He tried to reassure her, but it came out cold. "I understand."

She put a hand on his arm and he closed his eyes; he didn't want to look at her, to see her face twisted in pity. "No, I don't think you do. Look at me."

He opened his eyes to see her looking- well, a little pissed off actually.

"I want to be with you," She said, firmly. "Zuko, you're important to me. I don't regret anything and I'm so excited for you to meet Gran-Gran properly-" He flinched slightly at the mention of her grandmother and her hand on his arm tightened. "It's not my people I'm worried about," She continued. "It's yours."

He blinked at her, letting the words sink in. "Mine?"

She chewed her lip, picking her words carefully. "You're the new Firelord and you need to get the nobles on your side. I don't think that flaunting such a- uh, _close_ relationship with a foreign peasant will help you… politically."

He bristled and shook her hand off his arm, his skin crawling. "Don't use that word."

"What word? Peasant?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You've used it plenty of times before."

"I know," He said, miserably. "I know."

The shame of it had always been something he kept at bay with the presence of his friends, but sometimes when he was alone in the dark, the memories of his own callousness threatened the corners of his sanity. He had the capability, he had it inside him… _he is his father's son._

But her hands were cooling on his cheeks, and her lips were a whispered prayer of redemption. "Things are still unsettled here," She said gently, planting feather-light kisses along his forehead. "The important thing is that the people who matter know."

He decided to take her at her word and let her kiss him again. He never had the strength to fight her.

"I love you."

His eyes snapped to hers. His first instinct was to pull away. _You don't mean it. _He thought wildly. _Don't just say it because you pity me. _But she'd told him before, in a prison cell, that she never pitied him.

So, it was a conscious decision that he made, to believe her when she said it. He brought his hands up to cup her face and stroked his thumb along her bottom lip.

He tried to say it back, but the words fell soundlessly from his tongue. Everyone he'd loved has suffered.

Katara smiled in sad understanding, her eyes reflecting starlight back at him.


End file.
